Air Canada is offering 'very generous compensation' after bumping a 10-year-old boy from an overbooked flight

Air Canada
Air Canada has apologised and offered what it called "very generous compensation" to a Canadian family after a 10-year-old boy was bumped from an overbooked flight last month.

According to the Vancouver Sun, the boy was due to travel on holiday with his family from Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, to Costa Rica. His father, Brett Doyle, purchased four tickets for the trip in August.

However, Doyle couldn't book a seat for his son, Cole, when checking in a day before the flight's departure.

When his parents went to the airport to find out what the problem was, they were told the flight had been oversold.

Cole's mother, Shanna Doyle, told CBC News that she had even asked if one of the adults travelling with their party could give up their seat for Cole.

"I was told that while yes, we could give up our seat, there would be no guarantee that the seat would go to my son," she said.

The family then booked a flight for Cole and Brett from Moncton Airport the same day. When that flight was cancelled, they had to drive to Halifax to stay in a hotel overnight and catch a connecting flight.

According to the Sun, Air Canada said in an emailed statement on Monday that it had apologised to the Doyle family.

"We are currently following up to understand what went wrong and have apologized to Mr. Doyle and his family as well as offered a very generous compensation to the family for their inconvenience," an Air Canada spokeswoman said.

The family said they were offered a voucher worth 2,500 Canadian dollars that expires in a year and were told the airline may cover their expenses.

The news comes as United Airlines suffers a reputation crisis after it forcibly removed a passenger, David Dao, when he refused to give up his seat on an overbooked plane earlier this month. The violent ejection, which was filmed and posted on social media, caused outrage around the world.